Insulated joint for railroad-rails.



M. GRFFlN.

INSULATED JOINT FOR RAILROAD RAILS APPLxcAnoN F|LEn1uN18,191s.

1, 182,902, Patented May 16, 1916.

llliL III.

l A l l I p/M BY .Milou/Q! ma 01;', I A. Aff ,l-A' l V 5 U ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

INSULATED JOINT FOR RAILROAD-RAILS.

Application led J une 18, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MroHAnL GRIFFIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Insulated Joint for Railroad-Rails, of which the following is a specification. j

My invention consists of an insulated joint for railroad rails, embodying a cheek piece, which is adapted to support the leaving7 end of a rail, on insulated material and to support the receiving end of an adjacent rail solidly on 'said cheekpiece without interposed insulation. Provision is made for strengthening the cheek 'piece and base at places where said base and cheek piece are subjected to severe downward strain, especially below thejoint between said leaving and receiving ends of the adjacent railroad rails.

The invention is satisfactorily illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but the important instrumentallities thereof may be varied, and so it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details shown and described.

Figure l represents a perspective view of an insulated joint for railroad rails em-Y bodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section thereof on line a-m Fig.y 1, on a reduced scale. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section thereof on line y--y Fig. 1, on a reduced scale. Fig. 11 represents a transverse vertical section of a portion on a reduced scale. Fig. 5 represents a longitudinal horizontal section of a portion on line .fa-z Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

Referring to the drawings: l designates the railroad rail, and 2 designates the cheek pieces of the joint, the same being Aformed of metal and locatedon opposite sides. of

the railroad rails, one of the cheek pieces 2 being integral with the metallic base plate 8, and the other cheek piece 2 beingseparate from said plate and placed loosely thereon, 'the rails and cheek vpieces being firmly connected by the bolts t provided with the nuts 5.

On a portion of the base plate is the insulating pad 6 of wood or other suitable solid material, it being noticed that the ad- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

serial No. 34,776. i

jacent rails rest on said pad on opposite sides of the joint 7, and that insulating material is interposedbetween said rails at said joint, the same extending' to and contacting with said pad 6, thus insulating said rails from each other and consequently insulating one of said rails from the base plate 8, it being noticed'that said pad occupies a recess 8 in said base plate, the terminals of which form shoulders '9 with which the ends of the pad enga-ge, thus preventing'v creeping of the cushion.

Interposed between one of the rails and the cheek pieces are the insulations 10 formed of ysheets of suitable fiber or other material which incase and extend along the undersides o-f the head of the rail, along the sides of the neck of the rail, and along the upper side of the base of the rail, they contacting with the top portions of the cheek pieces adjacent to the undersides of the head of the rail andthe outturned bottom portions of said cheek pieces, and being disposed between the outer sides of the neck ofthe rail and the inner side vvertical portions of the cheek pieces, while beingcontinued downwardly around the sides of the base of the rail and joining the pad 6; ythus most effectually insulating the rail from the cheek pieces and the base plate 3 thereof. The pad 6 while separate from the base plate and rail extends the entire width of the base of the railand contacts with the inner faces of the cheek pieces, whereby lateral shifting of said pad is prevented, said pad having the railsuperimposed thereon in assembling the parts 'when the lower terminals of the side insulation contact with said pad at the side terminals thereof and so the base of the rail is completely insulated as are also the sides and head of the rail. 'T he upper edges of portions of the cheek pieces have depressions or grooves 11 therein forming seats for the upper portions of the insulations 10, the end ofthe latter abutting againstV the shoulders 13 onv the adjacent portions 12 of the cheek pieces, said insulations being flush with said portions 12, as most plainly shown in Fig. 1, they extending in the longitudinal direction of the cheek pieces underneath what is known as the leaving end of a rail and terminating at the receiving end of the adjacent rail, where the cheek pieces have no such depressions or grooves therein, hence, there is no insulation under said receiving end, and so said receiving end of the adjacent rail is solidly supported on the cheek pieces and thereby well enabled to endure the pounding and battering to which it is subjected, which otherwise would destroy the etliciency of the joint, but the insulation of the rails is preserved owing to the existence of insulation beneath the leaving end of the rail.

The portions of the cheek pieces to the right and left of the inner terminal of the depressions or.; grooves, and consequent to the right Aand left of the joint between adjacent rails arel widened forming the shoulders 16 which reinforce the cheek pieces in vertical direction, below the inner portions of the depressions 11, especially at places below said joint where the cheek pieces are subjected to severe battering or pounding as the wheels clear the leaving end of a rail and run upon the receiving end of the adjacent ra-il, and where said depressions 11 somewhat reduce the strength of the cheek pieces, hence the liability of the cheek pieces to break or fracture downwardly at said places is in a great measure overcome by said shoulders 16, but in order to still further strengthen the cheek pieces at said places, the underside ofV the'base plate 3 is formed with the truss 17 which consists of a flange projecting downwardly trom said plate, so as to extend below the underside of said base plate, it being ot such length that it occupies the space between adjacent cross ties, and its ends contact with the latter so as to be engaged as shoulders with said cross ties, as best shown in Fig. 2, so that creeping of the joint from said cross ties is prevented, it being evident that the cheek pieces are vastly strengthened where most needed below the place of meeting of adjacent rails in a two fold manner` by namely the outturned reinforcing shoulders 16, and the downturned truss 17.

The recess in the base in which the pad 6 is seated is extended in the present case to the right beyond the joint or place oi meeting of the adjacent rails underneath the same, so as to cross said joint forming an inverted T with the insulation in said joint, and so cutting-oli" the bottom of said joint to the right as well as to the left and contacting with the undersides of the ends of bot-h rails, it being well known that when sand is thrown on the tracks from a locomotive it is liable to pass through said joint and were it not controlled, it would pass under the pad 6, and so destroy insulation provided by the latter, but owing to the cut-ott, the sand is trapped on the top of the pad and so is preventedfrom reaching the end of the latter and passing under the same upon the base plate. Should the device receive longitudinal-sliding or shifting motion from the cars, as either cheek piece and the base plate are integral, said plate and piece will move together asone, and so the insulation of said parts will not be materially aii'ected or destroyed.

The bolts 4f are insulated fromrthe cheek pieces 2 by the collars 14 which occupy openings in said cheek pieces and encircle said bolts, while also contacting with the nuts 5. The places of connection of the cheek pieces with the base plate 3 are cut out forming the gutters 15, the Same extending therethrough to the cushion pad 6, whereby should water enter between thecheek pieces and rails, it may run to said gutters and discharge therefronito the road bed. Owing to the tendency of the railsto sag or yield downwardly at the joint 7` between the ends thereof, the cheek pieces are vastly thickened on their outer faces on opposite sides-of said joint, forming reinforces 16 thereon, the same providing increased strength for supporting the heads of the rails about said joint, the effect of which is evident. It will be noticed also that when the rail is lined or covered with the insula-v tions 10, it may be readily placed on the base plate and positioned against the cheek piece integral with the latter, without displacement ot the insulations, after which the separate cheek piece may be appliedfand connected with the rail and opposite cheek piece by the boltst, all of said parts then being firmly clamped together withouti displacing said insulations, the insulating material in the joint 7 between the railsjoining the insulations 10 on the underside of the head of the rail` as well as joining the pad 6 as has been stated, and the cheek pieces are closed to the rail with the insulating sheets between the same. The cushion pad is held against lateral shifting. Insulation will crush on the metal base of the clamp or the cheekpieces so the pad is employed and this being softer than iron or steel will prevent such crushing.

Having thus described'my invention what I claim as new .and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an insulated joint for railroadrails, a cheek piece having thereon for a portion of its length a longitudinally-extending depression, and insulating material adaptedw occupy the same, a base plate from which said cheekk piece rises, a truss extending downwardly from the underside of said pla-te and adapted to occupy the space between adjacent cross ties, and a laterally extending reinforcing shoulder on said cheek piece, said shoulderfand truss being in vertical alinenient below the joint between the; leaving and receiving ends, of

adjacent railroad rails for conjoint action their places of junction With said base plate below the meeting ends of adjacent rails. having therein gutters open therethrough to 2. In an insulated joint for railroad rails, the adjacent side of said pad. v a base plate, a pad separate from Said base MICHAEL GRIFFIN. 5 plate and rails seated on said base plate and Witnesses:

cheek pieces rising therefrom, portions of THOMAS J. GREENEY, the lower corners of said cheek pieces at JOHN RIELLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. c. 

